The Golden Rope
An artifact created by a professor obsessed with Wonder Woman and mind control. Origin Wonder Woman was first seen in October 1941, premiering in DC's All Stars Comics #8. The character was created by William Moulton Marston, with inspiration from Elizabeth Marston and Olive Byrne. The character originally fought the Axis powers in World War II, but afterwards the focus shifted towards supervillains and mythology. The Lasso of Truth first premiered eight months later, in the June 1942 issue of Sensations Comics #6. Although originally a mind controller, the lasso had other properties, which only grew in number during the "Post-Crisis" period of the comics. Effects The user whips the lasso at a target, and the artifact will extend itself to wrap itself tightly around the target at a distance of up to ten feet. When the user's mind is clear, they are able to perfectly control the target, both allowing them to tell the truth and have them do the bidding of the target, so long as the lasso is touching them. The target is not able to clearly recall the things the user has them do afterwards. If the user's mind is not clear, their thoughts will cloud into the targets, making the target less able to tell what the user really wants from them. It can also cause the target to recall not only the things the user had them do, but also to recall whatever the user was thinking about while using the lasso. Even when the user's mind is clear, the target still has foggy memories of the events that occurred, which they believe are merely a bad dream unless shown otherwise (primarily through visual evidence or the use of a "clarity" artifact). Collection The Warehouse first received a ping about five college women who had gone to police claiming that they suspected they were raped by a professor, but had no recollection of the incident. Agents Neil Raumm and Brenda Tovar went to the University of Zagreb, where they interviewed the five women. They weren't able to provide much about their experience, but they all informed them of one man who linked them: a psychology professor named C. Baumgarten. Agent Raumm interviewed the professor, but he was unable to determine if the man was using an artifact or not, though he did suspect that the man was the culprit. In order to find out for sure if the man was responsible, Agent Tovar volunteered to act as a university student and take his class. It took less than a week for him to invite her to his office after classes, where he had "done something" to her that she couldn't remember. With permission from the Supervisor at the time, they returned to the Warehouse and used (insert clarity artifact here), allowing Agent Tovar to clearly recall the experience. She recalled Professor Baumgarten talking about his work on mind control before having a golden rope wrapped around her in order for her to be compliant with his sexual requests. The pair returned to his office and informed the university of his activities, which led to his firing. During the university's conversation with him, of which Agent Tovar was a part of, Agent Raumm managed to get into his office and locate the Rope, which was taken and neutralized. Usage and Handling Requirements Neutralizer gloves are mandatory for general handling of the artifact. Regent authorization must be obtained before this artifact may be used on a subject. Mental pre-clarification is mandatory for use, which is achieved easily through the use of an artifact. Other Notes *Inventory Number: 003273756485 *This was the first of several encounters that the Warehouse would have with Professor Baumgarten, lasting over ten years. *As of January 2020, this artifact has been used by the Warehouse a total of ten times. Three of those times were t interrogate those before Bronzing. Category:Artifact Category:Warehouse 13 Category:Class A-4 Category:Canon Artifacts